Method and apparatus for enabling a privacy feature in a communications network

ABSTRACT

A method, apparatus, and computer instructions for securely transferring information in a communications system. Signals are generated by a communications keypad. In response to receiving an input indicating activation of a secure data transfer mode, these signals are converted from the communications keypad into speech signals, and the speech signals are transmitted to a receiving party.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Technical Field

The present invention relates generally to an improved communicationssystem and in particular to a method and apparatus for transferring dataover a communications system. Still more particularly, the presentinvention relates to a method, apparatus, and computer instructions forsecurely transferring data over a communications system.

2. Description of Related Art

The public switched telephone network (PSTN) is the oldest and largesttelecommunications network in existence. The PSTN is an analog networkproviding analog access at the 300 Hz to 3400 Hz range. Other types ofcommunications networks use digital technologies, such as integratedservices digital network (ISDN) and fiber distributed data interface(FDDI). Communications networks are used for many different purposes.For example, users or customers may talk to friends or relatives usingthe communications network. Further, business transactions may beconducted using a communications network.

In some cases, it may be necessary for a customer or user to communicatepersonal and confidential information to another person on the other endof a phone line in a communications network. This communication ofinformation may occur without adequate privacy for one or both partieson the phone line. Such a situation may occur when two or more peopleshare an office or when a call is made from a public telephone. In somecases, inquiries or requests may require the exchange of privateinformation.

For example, if a customer calls a number for company benefits, a bank,a hospital, or an investment firm, private or confidential informationmay be required as part of the transaction or conversation. Typically,one customer or user may be required to give a social security number,age, date of birth, or password to verify or obtain authorization toobtain information or perform various transactions. Currently, acustomer or user must find a private location or speak in a low enoughvoice to avoid others overhearing the private or confidentialinformation. In some cases, the user may not be able to find a privatelocation in which to convey this information.

Therefore, it would be advantageous to have an improved method,apparatus, and computer instructions for securely transferringinformation over a communications network during interactiveconversations between users.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides a method, apparatus, and computerinstructions for securely transferring information in a communicationssystem. Signals are generated by a communications keypad. In response toreceiving an input indicating activation of a secure data transfer mode,these signals are converted from the communications keypad into speechsignals, and the speech signals are transmitted to a receiving party.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The novel features believed characteristic of the invention are setforth in the appended claims. The invention itself, however, as well asa preferred mode of use, further objectives and advantages thereof, willbest be understood by reference to the following detailed description ofan illustrative embodiment when read in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a communications network in accordance with a preferredembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a communications device in which apreferred embodiment of the present invention may be implemented;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a data processing system that may beimplemented as a server in accordance with a preferred embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating components used in providing fora secure transfer of information in accordance with a preferredembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating components used in providing a securedata transfer feature in a communications network in accordance with apreferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of a process for providing secure datatransmission in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention; and

FIG. 7 is a flowchart of a process for providing a secure data transferfeature and a communications system in accordance with a preferredembodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

With reference now to the figures and in particular with reference toFIG. 1, a communications network is depicted in accordance with apreferred embodiment of the present invention. Communication network 100is an example of a communications network in which the present inventionmay be implemented. Communication network 100 may include variousnetworks, such as a public switched telephone network (PSTN), anintegrated services digital network (ISDN), the Internet, or a fiberdistributed data interface (FDDI) network. Communication network 100 mayinclude copper wire, fiber optics, and wireless transmission links toprovide for voice and data transmissions.

In these illustrative examples, telephones 102, 104, and 106 areconnected to communication network 100. A user at telephone 102 mayinitiate a call to a person at telephone 104 for an interactiveconversation between users. Further, server 108 may provide variousfunctions and features on communication network 100 including those ofthe present invention.

The present invention provides a method, apparatus, and computerinstructions for a privacy or secure feature for interactiveconversations between human parties over communication network 100. Auser at telephone 102 may indicate that a secure or privacy function isdesired to initiate a secure data transfer function. When that functionis activated, input is taken from a keypad or other non verbal userinterface. The input from a microphone on telephone 102 may be ignoreddepending on the particular implementation. The signals from the keypadare converted into speech and sent across communication network 100 totelephone 104.

This feature and the conversion of keypad signals into speech may beperformed through logic located in telephone 102. In other instances,this function may be provided as part of communication network 100through server 108. Further, an indicator at telephone 104 may beprovided to allow the user at telephone 104 to have a visual queue thata privacy feature has been initiated or activated. Such a feature helpsthe user at telephone 102 to preserve the confidentiality of informationin the event that privacy from others may not be found where telephone102 is located. This feature is especially useful for when theconversation is between two persons rather than with an automatedmachine on the other end. In this manner, confidential or privateinformation, such as a social security number or date of birth, may betransmitted by a user from telephone 102 to a user at telephone 104.

Next, FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a communications device in which apreferred embodiment of the present invention may be implemented.Communication device 200 is a telephone that includes processor 202 andmemory 204. Processor 202 functions to control operation ofcommunication device 200 and may be a general-purpose microprocessoroperating under the control of instructions stored in a memory, such asmemory 204, or device-specific circuitry for controlling the operationof the telephone device.

Processor 202 is connected by system bus 206 to transmitter 208,receiver 210, keypad 214, display 216, and audio processor 218. Keypad214 is the user interface for non verbal input in these illustrativeexamples and may be a numeric keypad and may include other functionbuttons or alpha character buttons. Keypad 214 generates signals, inthese examples, which are dual tone multi frequency (DTMF) signals usedby touchtone telephones. With DTMF signals, a specific frequency or toneis assigned to each key to allow the signals to be easily identified bya processor.

Display 216 in communication device 200 may be any type of displaydevice including a liquid crystal display (LCD) or other known displays,such as a cathode ray tube or active matrix display.

Transmitter 208 and receiver 210 are coupled to a telephone signal byinterface 224 to provide full duplex communication. The telephone signalmay be provided by a telephone line (not shown) in a land-basedtelephone or an antenna, for a wireless telephone. Audio processingcircuit 218 provides basic analog audio outputs to speaker 220 andaccepts analog audio inputs from microphone 222. Received signals aredemodulated and decoded by receiver 210. Transmitter 208 encodes andmodulates signals passed to it by processor 202 or audio processor 218.The output of the transmitter is amplified by power amplifier 212 tocontrol the power level at which the signal is transmitted.

Processor 202 or audio processor 218 may detect audible call statusinformation and call status codes received by receiver 210. Memory 204may include a lookup table associating call status information or callstatus codes with visual call status information, such as text messages.Processor 202 detects or receives a call status code and displays anappropriate call status message on display 216. Those of ordinary skillin the art will appreciate that the hardware depicted in FIG. 2 mayvary.

Communications devices may take various forms, such as a LAN linetelephone or a wireless mobile phone. In these examples, the privacy orsecurity feature of the present invention may be implemented as logicwithin communication device 200. Specifically, instructions may beincluded for execution by a processor to a tube to provide the privacyor security feature of the present invention. Alternatively, anapplications specific integrated circuit may be designed to providethese features with such an ASIC being connected to system bus 206. DTMFtones generated by keypad 214 may be transformed or converted intospeech for transmission to a receiving party when providing secure datatransfer features of the present invention. Additionally, display 216may provide an indicator, such as a message “privacy feature enabled”when the privacy or security feature has been activated.

In another embodiment of the present invention, a data processingsystem, such as server 108 in FIG. 1 may receive signals, such as DTMFsignals generated by a keypad on a user communications device, such ascommunication device 200 in FIG. 2. These DTMF tones may then beconverted into voice for transmission to the called or receiving partyfor the call in progress.

Referring to FIG. 3, a block diagram of a data processing system thatmay be implemented as a server, such as server 108 in FIG. 1, isdepicted in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention. Data processing system 300 may be a symmetric multiprocessor(SMP) system including a plurality of processor 302 and 304 connected tosystem bus 306. Alternatively, a single processor system may beemployed. Also connected to system bus 306 is memory controller/cache308, which provides an interface to local memory 309. I/O bus bridge 310is connected to system bus 306 and provides an interface to I/O bus 312.Memory controller/cache 308 and I/O bus bridge 310 may be integrated asdepicted.

Peripheral component interconnect (PCI) bus bridge 314 connected to I/Obus 312 provides an interface to PCI local bus 316. A number of modemsmay be connected to PCI local bus 316. Typical PCI bus implementationswill support four PCI expansion slots or add-in connectors.

Additional PCI bus bridges 322 and 324 provide interfaces for additionalPCI local buses 326 and 328, from which additional modems or networkadapters may be supported. In this manner, data processing system 300allows connections to multiple computers, routers or other devices in acommunications system. A memory-mapped graphics adapter 330 and harddisk 332 may also be connected to I/O bus 312 as depicted, eitherdirectly or indirectly.

Those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the hardwaredepicted in FIG. 3 may vary. For example, other peripheral devices, suchas optical disk drives and the like, also may be used in addition to orin place of the hardware depicted. The depicted example is not meant toimply architectural limitations with respect to the present invention.

The data processing system depicted in FIG. 3 may be, for example, anIBM eServer pSeries system, a product of International Business MachinesCorporation in Armonk, N.Y., running the Advanced Interactive Executive(AIX) operating system or LINUX operating system.

Turning next to FIG. 4, a block diagram illustrating components used inproviding for a secure transfer of information is depicted in accordancewith a preferred embodiment of the present invention. In this example,secure logic 400 provides the privacy or security feature of the presentinvention for providing secure transfer of data. Secure logic 400 may beimplemented using a processor or an ASIC, depending on the particularapplication.

Typically, during a telephone call, speech is detected by microphone 402and transmitted to a called party. Additionally, signals may begenerated by keypad 404. In these examples, the signals are DTMF tones.The secure data transfer feature of the present invention may beactivated in a number of different ways in these examples. For example,a button may be specifically assigned to activate the feature in securelogic 400. Alternatively, a sequence of buttons depressed on a typicalkeypad may be used to initiate the secure data transfer featuresprovided by secure logic 400. For example, a “*15” may be depressed bythe user on keypad 404 to initiate the secure data transfer feature ofthe present invention. When this feature is initiated in these examples,input is taken from keypad 404 and not microphone 402 by secure logic400. In these examples, signals from keypad 404 are translated orconverted into speech by speech converter 406. This speech is thentransmitted through transmitter 408 onto the communications network forreceipt by a called party.

Further, a signal may be sent to the called party to generate anindication that a privacy feature has been initiated by the callingparty. Indicator 410 may be activated by secure logic 400. In theseexamples, the indicator may be the display of a message on a LCD or ablinking light, depending on the particular implementation. The signalmay be a particular DTMF tone or sequence of DTMF tones to indicateactivation of the features in the illustrative examples.

The components illustrated in FIG. 4 may be implemented in acommunications device, such as communication device 200 in FIG. 2. Thesecomponents are shown to illustrate the features of the present inventionand are not meant as limitations to the architecture of devices in whichthe present invention may be implemented. In the depicted implementationno modifications are necessary to communications network to allow thisdata transfer feature to be enabled. In other implementations, thefeature may be provided through the communications network.

Turning next to FIG. 5, a diagram illustrating components used inproviding a secure data transfer feature in a communications network isdepicted in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention. In this illustrative example, a user at a telephone maygenerate voice transmissions through microphone 500 and also maygenerate signals to activate a secure data transfer feature throughkeypad 502.

The secure data transfer feature of the present invention in theseillustrative examples may be activated through a voice command or someother user input, such as depressing one or more keys on a keypad,entered by the user. These transmissions are sent onto thecommunications network by transmitter 504 in these examples.

In this illustrative example, server process 506 provides the securedata transfer feature. When a signal is generated to indicate that sucha feature is to be enabled, server process 506 takes signals generatedby keypad 502 and converts those signals into voice or speech fortransmission to a called party. Additionally, server process 506 alsomay generate a signal to activate an indicator on the called party toindicate that the secure data transfer feature has been enabled.

In this manner, such a feature may be provided to users withoutrequiring users to have special equipment in their communicationsdevices to use this secure data transfer feature of the presentinvention. In these examples, server process 506 may be implemented in adata processing system, such as data processing system 300 in FIG. 3.

Turning next to FIG. 6, a flowchart of a process for providing securedata transmission is depicted in accordance with a preferred embodimentof the present invention. The process illustrated in FIG. 6 may beimplemented in a communications device, such as communication device 200in FIG. 2.

The process begins by determining whether the secure data transferfeature has been activated (step 600). The process returns to step 600until the privacy feature has been enabled. In these examples, theprivacy feature may be enabled through some user input. This user inputmay be, for example, a signal or series of signals generated by keypador a voice command, depending on the particular implementation.

Once the privacy feature has been activated, input is turned off fromthe microphone (step 602). Step 602 is an optional step in theseexamples. Input is then received from the keypad (step 604). The signalsgenerated from the keypad are converted into voice or speech (step 606).

This signal to speech conversion may be implemented in different ways.For example, each of the keys assigned a number may have signals fromthat particular key converted into a spoken representation of thenumber. For example, a number “1” may be converted into the spoken word“one” by a text to speech converter. Further, different keys may beassigned different words for conversion from text to speech depending onthe particular implementation. In this manner, different types of userinput may be converted into different voice transmissions depending onthe particular use.

The speech is then transmitted onto the communications network (step608). Next, a determination is made as to whether the secure datatransfer feature has been deactivated (step 610). If the privacy featurehas not been deactivated, the process then returns to step 604.Otherwise, the input from the keypad is turned off or ignored (step 612)and the input from the microphone is turned back on with the processthen returning to step 600 as described above.

Turning next to FIG. 7, a flowchart of a process for providing a securedata transfer feature in a communications system is depicted inaccordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention. Theprocess illustrated in FIG. 7 may be implemented in a component in acommunications system, such as data processing system 300 in FIG. 3.

The process begins by determining whether an indication to enable asecure data transfer state has been received (step 700). The processcontinues to return to step 700 until such an indication is received.Upon receiving an indication to enable the secure data transfer state, asignal from the keypad is received for processing (step 702). The keypadsignal is converted into a speech signal (step 704). The speech signalis then transmitted to the called party (step 706). Next, adetermination is made as to whether an indication has been received toexit the secure data transfer state (step 708). If such an indication isreceived, the process returns to step 700 as described above. Otherwise,the process returns to step 702 to receive another keypad signal.

The components and processes of present invention in the illustrativeexamples described above may be implemented for use in many situationsin which privacy or secure transfer of information is required. Forexample, in a financial transaction, an individual client talks to afinancial service provider representative on a telephone that is locatedin an environment that does not provide privacy, such as a shared officespace or public telephone booth setting.

Typically, the financial service provider representative wouldauthenticate the client credentials by asking for client's date ofbirth, social security number, address, and possibly mother's maidenname or such secret password. In this illustrative example, thefollowing client information is present: the client date of birth isJan. 1, 1975, the client social security number is 012-34-5678, and theclient password is secret 123.

After the initial conversation between the parties, the client switchesthe conversation to secret or secure mode. First, on the phone keypad,the client presses *#* (star, pound, star) to set the telephone to aprivacy mode. Next, the telephone keypad's privacy mode indicator lamplights up on both ends of telephone line. Now both parties are awarethat they are operating in a privacy mode, and the phone instruments andall other intermediate components are made aware of privacy mode ofoperation.

Now, the client proceeds to answer the representative's first questionof DOB in privacy mode. The client presses the following series of keys“01011975” for the date of birth in a MMDDYYYY format. This informationis relayed to the remote side in either voice, display, or some otherspecial mode such as Braille. The representative then presses *#* on thephone keypad to toggle telephone to public mode and ask the client for asocial security number. On the phone keypad, client presses *#* to setthe telephone back to a privacy mode. The telephone keypad's privacymode indicator lamp lights up on both ends of the telephone line. Nowboth parties are aware that they are operating in privacy mode and thephone instruments and all other intermediate pieces are made aware ofprivacy mode of operation.

The client proceeds to answer the representative's second questionrequesting the social security number in the privacy mode. The clientpresses the following set of keys “012345678” for the social securitynumber NNN-NN-NNNN format. This information is again relayed to theremote side in either voice or display or some other special mode suchas Braille.

After receiving the information, representative presses “*#*” on thephone keypad to toggle telephones back to a public mode and asks theclient for the secret password now. On the phone keypad, the clientpresses “*#*”. The telephone keypad's privacy mode indicator lamp lightsup on both ends of line. Now both parties are aware that they areoperating in privacy mode and the phone instruments and all otherintermediate pieces are made aware of privacy mode of operation. Theclient then proceeds to answer the representative's third question ofsecret password in the privacy mode. The client presses the followingseries of keys “**733223723281**123” to send the secret password.

When “**” is pressed on the phone keypad, keypad interprets the keyinputs in alphabetical mode. The process reads two digits at a time toderive a letter. For example, “73” maps to the letter “S” since onnumeric key “7” three alphabetical letters “P”, “R”, and “S” arepresent. Letter “S” is in 3^(rd) position on numeric key “7” indicatingletter “S”. Using this logic, the following are the mappings for thisillustrative example, **-alphabetical mode; 73-S; 32-E; 23-C; 72-R;32-E; 81-T; and **-Numeric Mode; 1; 2; and 3.

This information is relayed to the remote side in either voice ordisplay or some other special mode such as Braille. Depending on theimplementation, the client telephone may remain in the privacy modewhile the representative's phone may allow for voice transmissions tothe client.

Thus, the present invention provides an improved method, apparatus, andcomputer instructions for enabling a secure transfer of data over acommunications network between two parties. The mechanism of the presentinvention allows a calling party to enter a secure transfer state inwhich signals from a keypad are converted into speech. The speech signalis then sent to the called party. In this manner, the calling party maysend private or confidential information without others overhearing theinformation when the calling party is in a location that does not allowfor privacy with respect to voice communications. The mechanism of thepresent invention may be applied to many situations lacking privacy suchas public telephone booths, shared office rooms, or even in mobilephones being used by people in public places such as in trains or atconcerts.

Further, this feature is especially useful when the called party isanother human user. The conversion of the keypad signals into speechallows the called party to receive and understand the private orconfidential information.

It is important to note that while the present invention has beendescribed in the context of a fully functioning data processing system,those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the processes ofthe present invention are capable of being distributed in the form of acomputer readable medium of instructions and a variety of forms and thatthe present invention applies equally regardless of the particular typeof signal bearing media actually used to carry out the distribution.Examples of computer readable media include recordable-type media, suchas a floppy disk, a hard disk drive, a RAM, CD-ROMs, DVD-ROMs, andtransmission-type media, such as digital and analog communicationslinks, wired or wireless communications links using transmission forms,such as, for example, radio frequency and light wave transmissions. Thecomputer readable media may take the form of coded formats that aredecoded for actual use in a particular data processing system.

The description of the present invention has been presented for purposesof illustration and description, and is not intended to be exhaustive orlimited to the invention in the form disclosed. Many modifications andvariations will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art. Theembodiment was chosen and described in order to best explain theprinciples of the invention, the practical application, and to enableothers of ordinary skill in the art to understand the invention forvarious embodiments with various modifications as are suited to theparticular use contemplated.

1. A method for securely transferring information in a communicationssystem, the method comprising: responsive to receiving an inputindicating activation of a secure data transfer mode, converting signalsfrom a keypad into speech signals; and transmitting the speech signalsto a receiving party.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the transmittingstep comprises: correlating a signal from a key on the keypad to a word;and generating a speech signal representing the word.
 3. The method ofclaim 1 further comprising: responsive to receiving the input, sending aselected signal to the receiving party, wherein a visual indicator ispresented to the receiving party to indicate the secure data transfer.4. The method of claim 1, wherein the converting step and thetransmitting step are performed by a data processing system connected tothe communications system and wherein the signals from thecommunications pad are dual tone multi frequency signals.
 5. The methodof claim 1, wherein the converting step and the transmitting step areperformed in a communications device.
 6. The method of claim 5, whereinthe communications device is a telephone or a wireless communicationsdevice.
 7. The method of claim 1 further comprising: preventingtransmission of voice signals in response to receiving an inputindicating activation of a secure data transfer mode.
 8. A telephonecomprising: a processing unit; a keypad connected to the processingunit; a transmitter connected to the processing unit, wherein thetransmitter sends signals into a communications network; and amicrophone connected to the processing unit; and a transmitter connectedto the processing unit, wherein the processor converts signals receivedfrom the keypad into speech signals in response to receiving an inputindicating activation of a secure data transfer mode; and transmits thespeech signals to a receiving party through the transmitter.
 9. Thetelephone of claim 8, wherein the processing unit is a microprocessor oran application specific integrated circuit.
 10. A server comprising: abus system; a memory connected to the bus system, wherein the memoryincludes a set of instructions; a communications adapter connected tothe bus system; and a processing unit connected to the bus system,wherein the processing unit executes the set of instructions to detectan indication to enable a secure transfer state from a party to a call,receive DTMF signals from the party to the call; convert the dual tonemulti frequency signals from the keypad into speech signals when thesecure transfer state is enabled; and transmit the speech signals to areceiving party through the transmitter.
 11. A data processing systemfor securely transferring information in a communications system, thedata processing system comprising: converting means, responsive toreceiving an input indicating activation of a secure data transfer mode,for converting signals from a communications keypad into speech signals;and transmitting means for transmitting the speech signals to areceiving party.
 12. The data processing system of claim 11, wherein thetransmitting means comprises: correlating means for correlating a signalfrom a key on the communications keypad to a word; and generating meansfor generating a speech signal representing the word.
 13. The dataprocessing system of claim 11 further comprising: sending means,responsive to receiving the input, for sending a selected signal to thereceiving party in which a visual indicator is presented to thereceiving party to indicate the secure data transfer.
 14. The dataprocessing system of claim 11, wherein the converting means and thetransmitting means are performed by a data processing system connectedto the communications system and wherein the signals from thecommunications pad are dual tone multi frequency.
 15. The dataprocessing system of claim 11, wherein the converting means and thetransmitting means are performed in a communications device.
 16. Thedata processing system of claim 15, wherein the communications device isa telephone or a wireless communications device.
 17. The data processingsystem of claim 11, wherein the transmitting means is a firsttransmitting means and further comprising: second transmitting means fortransmission of voice signals in response to receiving an inputindicating activation of a secure data transfer mode.
 18. A computerprogram product in a computer readable medium for securely transferringinformation in a communication system, the computer program productcomprising: first instructions, responsive to receiving an inputindicating activation of a secure data transfer mode, for convertingsignals from the communications keypad into speech signals; and secondinstructions for transmitting the speech signals to a receiving party.19. The computer program product of claim 18, wherein the secondinstructions comprises: first sub-instructions for correlating a signalfrom a key on the communications keypad to a word; and secondsub-instructions for generating a speech signal representing the word.20. The computer program product of claim 18 further comprising: thirdinstructions, responsive to receiving the input, for sending a selectedsignal to the receiving party, wherein a visual indicator is presentedto the receiving party to indicate the secure data transfer.
 21. Thecomputer program product of claim 18, wherein the first instructions andthe second instructions are executed by a data processing systemconnected to the communications system and wherein the signals from thecommunications pad are dual tone multi frequency.
 22. The computerprogram product of claim 18, wherein the first instructions and thesecond instructions are executed in a communications device.
 23. Thecomputer program product of claim 22, wherein the communications deviceis a telephone or a wireless communications device.